The futures were lower across the board on Monday, as we begin the holiday-shortened trading week. After a grim start Friday, stocks managed to rebound some as the buy-the-dip crowd finally showed up. Technology stocks, which have been blasted on fears of higher interest rates, staged a modest rebound and closed almost flat, but they could see some more choppy trading this week. The Dow Jones industrials were hammered, closing down almost 1.5%. Rising Omicron variant cases are being cited as one reason for the big risk-off moves lately.
With much of the Federal Reserve’s forward-looking initiatives now baked in, Wall Street strategists are continuing to focus on big increases in energy and food costs and other spiraling inflation issues, as well as the ongoing supply chain concerns and stagflation worries.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week with a goal of finding new ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy. Other calls cover stocks to sell or avoid. Remember that no single analyst call should ever be used as a basis to buy or sell a stock. Consensus analyst target data is from Refinitiv.
These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Monday, December 20, 2021.
Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE): Jefferies reiterated its Buy rating on the stock but slashed the target price from $760 to $680. JPMorgan kept a Neutral rating and dropped the target to $645 from $680, while UBS maintained a Buy rating and dropped its target to $635 from $690. An additional six firms all lowered the price targets after the company posted solid results but warned of the potential for slowing growth next year. The consensus target of $709.39 will be lowered soon. Friday’s last trade came in at $556.64, down close to 2% for the day.
Arista Networks Inc. (NYSE: ANET): Cleveland Research raised its Neutral rating to Buy. The shares have traded in a 52-week range of $65.52 to $140.53 and have a $127.43 consensus price target. The shares closed Friday well above that level at $135.03.
AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T): Barclays upgraded the legacy communications giant to Buy from Neutral and has a $30 price target. The consensus target is $30.56. The stock closed Friday at $23.78.
Brinker International Inc. (NYSE: EAT): Zacks selected this as its Bear of the Day stock. The analyst wonders if the owner of Chili’s and Maggiano’s can rebound after the intense labor and supply challenges it faced last quarter. The shares last closed at $35.49, but they have traded as high as $78.33 in the past year.
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